An outsider's perspective, The Courier's directionBy Scott Perkins editor@couriernews.com "Welcome to Russellville," they say. "We're glad to have you in our community." "Well, thank you, and I'm glad to be here," I reply. The above conversation with minor variations has reoccurred several times since I have moved to the Arkansas River Valley, and I expect it to keep on happening. Through e-mails, phone calls and face-to-face encounters, this community could not have been more welcoming to my...

Surgeon's tragedy hits homeBy Scott Perkins editor@couriernews.com The themes of life reoccur and hopefully, we as individuals, recognize them as we live day after day. The act of waking up every morning is a blessing in itself. Nothing is guaranteed in this world and if we could learn to live every day like it was our last, we could truly acknowledge the uniqueness of what it means to be alive and well. It is human nature to take many things for granted - our health an...

Resolutions can set tone for any yearBy Scott Perkins Courier editor The New Year is rapidly approaching - time to say "good-bye" to 2004 and "hello" to 2005. Time seems to speed up as we grow older making our time more precious every day. Resolutions for the new year serve as a great way to set goals and try to implement change in our lives although unfortunately many of us fall short of our perfect-world resolutions before the Easter Bunny hops into action. Few of us make it to...

President's slight will be benefit to ArkansasBy Mark Scott government@couriernews.com It doesn't take an extensive media study to determine Average Joe Arkansan's loyalty toward the Detroit Pistons disappeared when the team traded ex-Cyclone and Razorback Corliss Williamson during the off-season. Personally, the Pistons' game reports set to pop up on my "My Yahoo!" were no longer needed because their only purpose was to see how many points Corliss scored the night before. Yes, Corliss wa...

Traditions manifest on Christmas EveBy Scott Perkins editor@couriernews.com A white Christmas occurs in the South about every 14 years, according to local weather history. Although the holidays in general are special enough even without the occurrence of falling snow which happens to hang around until Dec. 25, the hustle and bustle of the holiday season often tests our patience while we sometimes lose track of what the season is all about. This year, during the last-minute shopp...

Search ends for favorite Christmas harmonyBy Neal Ronquist nronquist@couriernews.com It must have come from one of the local radio stations this past week, or perhaps someone asked the question in the office, but it's stuck with me all week. The question was: "What's your favorite Christmas song?" It is one of those trivial questions that really isn't that important, but nonetheless, has left me dwelling on just which one of the classics is my favorite. Of course the timing of the que...

It's the season for shoppingBy Neal Ronquist nronquist@couriernews.com Maybe it's a guy thing, maybe it's just a me thing, but Christmas shopping through the years has never held a lot of appeal. The crowds, the noise, the stress I could just do without. For some reason, maybe it's the new bundle of joy, this year's Christmas shopping has been much more delightful. I've actually enjoyed wheeling two carts around with one daughter in each and spending countless hours on t...

Catch the spirit of givingTheir wishes are fairly simple. A doll. A video game. Clothing. A fishing pole. One 7-year-old boy wants an American flag for Christmas. The Courier has already run two sets of Christmas Wishes from children in needy families, from our own neighbors right here in the Arkansas River Valley. These are folks who live down the street from us, who work with us, who go to church with us, who shop with us. They aren't strangers, but the Main Street M...

It's a newspaper, that's allBy Phillip W. Lamb managingeditor@couriernews.com "You know what people use these for? "They roll them up and swat their puppies for wetting on the rug; they spread them on the floor when they're painting the walls; they wrap fish in them, shred them up and pack their two-bit china in them when they move, or else they pile up in the garage until an inspector declares them a fire hazard! "But this also happens to be a couple of more things! It'...

Another voice ... fighting for our freedomNote - The following is the speech given by Navy Cdr. Alan Todd, a graduate of Arkansas Tech University and the commanding officer of the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 17 at Fort Carson, Colo., at the Veterans Day observances last week. By Cdr. Alan Todd It is truly an honor for me to be here today to help pay tribute to those that have served our country so honorably and capably. Two hundred and twenty-three years ago, the men who would...

Don't expect much from LegislatureAfter muddling its way through school reform efforts two years ago and again in a special session earlier this year, the state General Assembly is reassembling. At the risk of sounding like a broken record (or scratched CD, for today's generation of students), we're not expecting much better from the incoming body of lawmakers. With the exception of a few vacant chairs, thanks to term limits, the old gang pretty much got itself re-elected. So ...

Amid needs, Main Street Mission helpsBy Neal Ronquist nronquist@couriernews.com The Main Street Mission, in Russellville, isn't one of those places they show you when you're a visitor to town, or a new arrival. It's a place you need to seek out, either because of need, or because of a true desire to give to others less fortunate. Like many communities throughout America, Russellville is home to many in need of food, clothing, shelter, as well as many other of life's basic necessi...

Good photos getting betterBy Phillip W. Lamb managingeditor@couriernews.com Regular readers of The Courier may have noticed a couple of things about photographs in the paper recently. First, we've used an unusual number of sports photos on the front page. While each photo has had a solid news peg - the Golden Suns beating UALR, the Wonder Boys reaching a 8-0 record, etc. - we also like to showcase our photographers' best work. That leads to the second point about our p...

Ordinary folks key to unityBy Neal Ronquist nronquist@couriernews.com Whew! It's finally over. The election of 2004 is in the books. This year's campaign promises, campaign allegations and campaign theatrics are ready to be placed back in a box and stored in that dark place under the steps until the fall of 2007. The elections are an exhausting process not only for those heavily involved, but for all Americans. So much passion. So much anger. So much divisiveness. Regar...

Weather puts chill on shots"Stand outside in the cold rain and you'll catch your death of cold." That's something you can expect a mother to say. "Actually, neither the cold nor the wet conditions cause an infection, although they may contribute to a lowering of the body's resistance ..." That's something you can expect a scientist to say, at least until you start tuning out the details. Around the state, people were lined up by the dozens and by the scores Wednesday to...

Speaking up for unityNow that the election is over, a re-elected President Bush needs to start working on a four-year-old election promise that he never fulfilled. In his first run for the presidency, Bush liked to say that he was "a uniter, not a divider." Somewhere along the way, the thought never quite came into synchronization with the action. In the past four years, our country has grown more polarized than it has been in generations. We've become a nation, n...

A cat's tale for HalloweenBy Phillip W. Lamb managingeditor@couriernews.com (Note • This is adapted from something I wrote years ago for an online newsletter published by a former member of the Arkansas Gazette staff. Linda was my late first wife, Sparky was our older son and Adolph the cat was, well, the whole point of writing this.) Back when elder son Sparky, now a college student, was still in diapers, the Lamb family lived on Highway 5 in Saline County, just outsi...

All Progress is local, tooThe late House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neil understood the importance of local decision-making and local issues when he said, "All politics is local." The same is true for the economy. All progress is local, when you get right down to it. Today's economy is increasingly globalized. It's not just the decisions that are made in the halls of power in Washington, D.C., that have an effect on Arkansas or on the River Valley. We're affected by dec...

This message is unpopular but neededBy Rick Fahr editor@couriernews.com This will be the last column I write in this newspaper. It could be the typical "so long, see y'all later" kinda deal, but I think there's a more important message to leave. And here it is: When I first got into the newspaper business, I really enjoyed politics. Of course, that might have something to do with timing. My first election as a working journalist was 1992, a year when an unknown governor from Ark...

Question is about studentsReferred Question No. 1 on this year's general election ballot is one of those that seems fairly complicated, and in some ways it is. It deals with property tax rates. The measure would compel every school district in the state to collect 28 mills in property taxes, raising that level from the 25-mill rate that currently exists. Those funds would go to the state to be sent back to each school district based on a statewide funding formula. In t...